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Woking F.C.

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Woking
Full nameWoking Football Club
Nickname(s)The Cardinals, The Cards
Founded1889; 135 years ago (1889)
GroundKingfield Stadium
Capacity6,036 (2,500 seated)
OwnerPeter Jordan
ChairmanRosemary Johnson
ManagerGarry Hill
LeagueNational League
2015–16National League, 12th
Websitehttp://www.wokingfc.co.uk/
Current season

Woking Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Woking, Surrey, England. Formed in 1889, the team play at The Laithwaite Community Stadium (formerly known as Kingfield Stadium) and participates in The National League, the fifth tier of English football.

Woking have won the FA Trophy a joint-record 3 times and finished the Conference Premier 2014–15 season in 7th place. Woking are known as The Cards or The Cardinals.

History

Early years

Woking Football Club, known as the Cards, was formed in 1889. The club joined the West Surrey League in 1895–96, winning the title by one point. However, within 21 years of being formed, the club was in danger of folding for financial reasons. The turning point came when, in January 1908, Woking played Bolton Wanderers in the First Round of the FA Cup, having made it through five qualifying rounds. Despite losing the away game 5–0, the club made it into the national news. Bolton Wanderers, impressed by the minnows they had defeated, travelled to Woking for a friendly match the following season, which kept the club solvent.

Isthmian League years

In 1911 the club joined the Isthmian League, maintaining their place in the top division for 72 years and finishing as runners-up to Wycombe Wanderers in 1956–57. That achievement was eclipsed the following season when, in front of a 71,000 crowd, the Cards beat Ilford 3–0 to win the last FA Amateur Cup Final to be televised live.

The club then went into decline, culminating in a first-ever relegation in 1982–83. By the end of the 1984–85 season the club had plunged to Division Two South of the Isthmian League. It was during that season that former player, Geoff Chapple, was appointed as manager. However, Chapelle was not able to save the club from relegation. The following season, the club just missed out on promotion at the first attempt. However, the club clinched the Division Two South title in 1986–87 and, after two third-place finishes in Division One, they were promoted back to the Premier Division at the end of the 1989–90 season.

FA Cup glory

The next season saw the club become part of FA Cup folklore. Entering the competition in the Fourth Qualifying Round, they beat three Conference sides to set up a Third Round tie away to West Bromwich Albion. Recovering from being a goal behind, Woking triumphed 4–2, after a hat-trick from Tim Buzaglo. The club was then drawn against Everton. The tie was originally going to be played at Woking, though the venue was switched to Everton's home ground, Goodison Park. Woking narrowly lost the match 1–0 to a Kevin Sheedy goal.

Promotion to the Conference and FA Trophy success

Woking supporters watching their team win at Wembley in the 1997 FA Trophy Final.

Promotion to the Conference was achieved in 1991–92. The Isthmian League title was clinched in early April, with seven games still to be played, 18 points clear of nearest rivals, Enfield. The next season saw Woking finish the season in eighth position. The following summer saw Chapple sign former Chelsea, Sunderland, Fulham and QPR winger, Clive Walker, from Brighton & Hove Albion and he was to prove the catalyst in the most successful period in the club's history. The FA Trophy was won in 1994 when Runcorn were beaten at Wembley. Twelve months later Kidderminster Harriers were beaten as Woking became the second club ever to win successive finals. Wembley was revisited in 1997 and the FA Trophy was won for the third time, this time against Dagenham & Redbridge. The Cards also achieved five successive top five finishes in the Conference, including being runners-up in 1994–95 and 1995–96 when they finished below Stevenage. The club also continued to enjoy national prominence in the FA Cup. Barnet were defeated in successive seasons following draws at their homeground. In 1996–97 a run in the FA Cup saw the club beat Millwall, then top of Division Two, and Cambridge United, who were challenging for promotion from Division Three. The Third Round saw Woking draw 1–1 away to Premier League side Coventry City, thanks to a last minute equaliser from the Cards' Steve Thompson, but Coventry won the replay at Kingfield 2–1.

At the end of the 1996–97 campaign, having just clinched the FA Trophy for the third time, Geoff Chapple and his coach, Colin Lippiatt, left the club and joined Kingstonian. This was the beginning of a less successful period for the club. John McGovern and then Brian McDermott were given the position of manager, but neither achieved anything greater than a mid-table finish. After McDermott, Colin Lippiatt returned but fared little better. He was replaced by his former boss as Geoff Chapple too came back to Woking. Lippiatt departed in January 2002 and Glenn Cockerill joined as Chapple's assistant. This season ended with the club just one place above the relegation places. In the meantime very significant events had taken place off the field. The downturn in the club's fortunes had led to a financial crisis. With the club facing administration or worse, local businessman and long-time fan Chris Ingram bought the club, becoming chairman in February 2002 with an aim of trying to increase the club's income and to secure its long-term financial stability.[citation needed]

Cockerill took over as manager later that year, and oversaw a relative period of stability for the club, before he was sacked shortly before the end of the 2006–07 season. An unimpressive campaign under the management of Frank Gray followed in 2007–08, before a disastrous 2008–09 season which saw three men (Kim Grant, Phil Gilchrist and Graham Baker) take charge of the club, eventually resulted in the club's relegation to the Conference South. That summer, a supporters' trust took over the running of the club. Woking finished 5th in their first Conference South season, but lost to Bath City in the play-off final. The following season saw Woking struggling to challenge for promotion, and Graham Baker was sacked halfway through the campaign for suggesting that the fans were expecting too much of the team. Garry Hill took over as manager and improved the team's form, eventually resulting in another 5th-place finish, only for the club to get knocked out in the play-off semi-finals this time against Farnborough. In April 2012, having beaten Maidenhead United 0–1 with Giuseppe Sole scoring for a record breaking ninth game in a row, Woking were promoted to the Conference Premier, winning the Conference South with two games to spare. They eventually reached 97 points, beating 2nd placed Dartford by 9 points.

Ground

Woking play their home games at The Laithwaite Community Stadium (formerly known as Kingfield Stadium), Kingfield Road, Woking, GU22 9AA.

Mascot

Woking F.C. has a team mascot called K.C Kat.

Rivalries

For many years Woking's main rivals have been Stevenage and Aldershot Town, where games attract larger than average crowds. In recent years they have also shared a rivalry with Farnborough.

Players

Current squad

As of 5 May 2016.[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK England ENG Jake Cole
2 DF England ENG Jake Caprice
3 DF England ENG Chris Arthur
4 DF England ENG Mark Ricketts (captain)
5 DF England ENG Brian Saah
6 DF England ENG Ismail Yakubu (vice-captain)
7 MF Northern Ireland NIR Joey Jones
8 MF Antigua and Barbuda ATG Keiran Murtagh
9 FW England ENG Scott Rendell
10 FW England ENG Giuseppe Sole
11 MF England ENG John Goddard
No. Pos. Nation Player
12 MF England ENG Godfrey Poku
14 MF England ENG Matt Robinson (on loan from Luton Town)
15 MF Portugal POR Bruno Andrade
18 GK Germany GER Nick Hamann
20 MF England ENG Alex Smith
21 DF England ENG Andrew Mills
23 FW England ENG Daniel Carr (on loan from Cambridge United)
24 FW England ENG Gary Abisogun
26 DF England ENG Cameron Norman (on loan from Norwich City)
28 MF England ENG Matt Butcher (on loan from Bournemouth)

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player

Seasons

Main article: List of Woking F.C. seasons
Year League Level Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Position Leading league scorer Goals FA Cup FA Trophy Average attendance
2006–07 Conference National 5 46 15 12 19 56 61 −5 57 15th of 24 Craig McAllister 15 R1 R1 No data
2007–08 Conference Premier 5 46 12 17 17 53 61 −8 53 17th of 24 Giuseppe Sole 14 QR4 R2 No data
2008–09 Conference Premier 5 46 10 14 22 37 60 −23 44 21st of 24
Relegated 		Wilfried Domoraud 8 QR4 R1 1642
2009–10 Conference South 6 42 21 9 12 57 44 +13 72 5th of 22
Lost in PO final 		Giuseppe Sole 14 R1 R2 1335
2010–11 Conference South 6 42 22 10 10 63 42 +21 76 5th of 22
Lost in PO semifinal 		Elvis Hammond 12 R1 R3 1167
2011–12 Conference South 6 42 30 7 5 92 41 +51 97 1st of 22
Promoted 		Giuseppe Sole 19 QR3 QR3 1834
2012–13 Conference Premier 5 46 18 8 20 73 81 −8 62 12th of 24 Bradley Bubb 18 QR4 R2 1600
2013–14 Conference Premier 5 46 20 8 18 66 69 −3 68 9th of 24 Scott Rendell 17 QR4 R2 1601
2014–15 Conference Premier 5 46 21 13 12 77 52 +25 76 7th of 24 Scott Rendell 24 R1 R3 1911
2015–16 National League 5 46 17 10 19 71 68 +3 61 12th of 24 John Goddard 17 QR4 QF 1634

Managerial history

A list of Woking FC managers from 1984 onwards.

Dates Names Notes
1984–1997 England Geoff Chapple
1997–1998 Scotland John McGovern
1998–2000 England Brian McDermott
2000–2001 England Colin Lippiatt
2001–2002 England Geoff Chapple
2002–2007 England Glenn Cockerill
2007 England Graham Baker &
England Neil Smith 		Caretaker Managers
2007–2008 Scotland Frank Gray
2008 Ghana Kim Grant
2008–2009 England Phil Gilchrist
2009–2011 England Graham Baker
2011–Present England Garry Hill

Club officials

Woking Football Club Limited

Chairman: Rosemary Johnson
Directors: Peter Jordan, Geoff Chapple, Rosemary Johnson, Garry Richardson, Kelvin Reay
Cards Trust elected Board representative: Ian Nicholson
Club Ambassador: Geoff Chapple
Head of Communications: David Taylor

Team Management

Manager: Garry Hill

Assistant Manager: Steve Thompson

Football Secretary: Geoff Chapple

First Team Physio:
Steve Snelling

Head of Youth Development:
Scott Harrison

Kit Managers: Malcolm Jobling & Stuart Baverstock

Groundsman: Colin Gallliford

Honours

Club records

Highest league position:

  • 2nd in Conference National: 1994–95 & 1995–96

FA Cup best performance:

FA Trophy best performance:

  • Winners: 1993–94; 1994–95; 1996–97 (Joint record number of wins)

Largest transfer fee received

Largest transfer fee paid

Record win

  • 17–3 vs. Farnham in the Surrey Charity Shield in 1913

Heaviest defeat

  • 0–16 vs. New Crusaders in the FA Cup in 1905

Former players

1. Players that have played/managed in the football league or any foreign equivalent to this level (i.e. fully professional league).
2. Players with full international caps.
3. Players that hold a club record

References

  1. ^ "Woking". FootballSquads. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  2. ^ "Saturday Senior Cup Previous Winners". SurreyFA. Retrieved 2013-04-28.
  3. ^ "Memorandum Of Procedures For Dealing With Misconduct Occurring". Docstoc.com. 2010-04-24. Retrieved 2013-04-09.
  4. ^ "Epsom & Ewell Football Club". Epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk. Retrieved 2013-03-27.
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